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Mind
May 21, 2006 14:48:58 GMT -5
Post by dave on May 21, 2006 14:48:58 GMT -5
"His mind is stronger than expected. It should be almost dead, after what happened to him. He's regaining control. How is this possible?" a slithery voice questioned itself. Someone (or something; it was hard to tell) was sitting in an armchair by a crackling fire, cloaked all in black. "Never mind now. This could be favorable for us."
The figure muttered something in Latin and they punched his hand out. Across the world an effect had taken place.
* * *
Aurora stood before a huddled group of men. His sword was in his hands, covered with blood, probably from the man on the floor next to Auro's feet -- who wasn't exactly human any more, his body mutilated. Auro continued forward and his sword rose with each step, ready to slaughter the rest of the men. Aurora stopped and his sword dropped slightly. It shook, like he was struggling to keep it down. This wasn't him. Why was he doing it? What was controlling him? He pushed his thoughts back, and continued.
He swung down at the first male before him and his head came clean off. He moved to the next, swinging again.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 14:54:54 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on May 21, 2006 14:54:54 GMT -5
Alex materialized just in time, in a defensive stance that blocked Auro's attack. As the smoke around him dissipated, he sent a rush of power through his arm and into his kunai, which blasted Auro's weapon back and took Auro with it. He ignored Auro now, and moved around the bodies. Dead, it seemed. Some of them were still in one piece though... Alex crouched and placed his hands on the floor. Silver water spread swiftly from them, over the floor. All the bodies that had just been stabbed and weren't quite dead yet instantly jerked back to life. Alex stood up and turned on the spot.
He grabbed the front of Auro's shirt and threw him up against a wall, then fired a number of ice spearheads which soared through the air and pinned Auro to the wall.
"What happened?" he demanded.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 14:56:59 GMT -5
Post by prime on May 21, 2006 14:56:59 GMT -5
Eragon appeared quite suddenly beside Alex and pressed the blade of his dagger to the man's throat. "What the hell is going on around here, and why are you holding my friend up against a fucking wall?" Eragon asked, keeping his voice low and controlled, though his mind seethed with cold anger.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:01:24 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on May 21, 2006 15:01:24 GMT -5
Alex vanished, and reappeared behind Eragon with a number of blades of water hovering around him. They twirled and danced, spiralling around Alex threateningly.
"You 'friend' just murdered a number of innocent people, for no apparent reason," Alex said, his voice very calm but very commanding. "I believe that I deserve an explanation, considering I was the one to stop him from murdering even more."
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:03:18 GMT -5
Post by prime on May 21, 2006 15:03:18 GMT -5
Eragon's double faded out of existence, and Eragon spoke from his perch on the roof above Auro. "Yes, do tell Auro. I'm a little confused about that myself."
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:12:10 GMT -5
Post by dave on May 21, 2006 15:12:10 GMT -5
Aurora coughed violently; he had been shoved into the wall rather hard, and was being interrogated by Alex and Eragon. His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t make out much.
“What the hell happened? Why the hell am I being held against a wall? And why the hell are there semi-dead people around?” Aurora asked. He was confused. Very confused. He couldn’t remember where he had been for the past hour, just a blank spot in his memory. Yes, he was very confused.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:16:30 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on May 21, 2006 15:16:30 GMT -5
"I see..." Alex said, gesturing to Auro. The ice melted to release Auro from the wall. Alex turned away, his eyes closed, frowning. Aurora had no memory of what had happened... Had he been posessed? It was the only plausible explanation. Unless he had his memory triggered to auto-amnesiac itself, but what would he gain from that? It could be a ruse, but Alex would have been able to see through that.
"You were posessed," Alex said, turning back, as the water around him evaporated. "By an unknown force or forces. Primarily, your aim should be to find this posessor, or you should mount a defense for your mind to avoid further instances like this one."
Alex shrugged, and turned to leave.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:18:32 GMT -5
Post by prime on May 21, 2006 15:18:32 GMT -5
Eragon looked at Auro with concern. "Well that's no good," he said thoughtfully, then looked up. "Where the hell are you going, mystery man? You can't just get involved in this and then dismiss it."
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:24:53 GMT -5
Post by dave on May 21, 2006 15:24:53 GMT -5
"I can't, Alex," said Aurora simply. It was true. He couldn't protect his mind. He used to be able to, but the memory of how to use that power had been taken. He couldn't use many of his old powers, because of one stupid possession. "That power was taken from me along time ago," he explained.
"I need your help," whispered Auro.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 15:32:59 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on May 21, 2006 15:32:59 GMT -5
"No, you don't," Alex said, turning his head slightly so that he could see Auro. "You don't need my help at all. As I said, your primary goal should be to find this person who is assaulting your mind."
Alex gestured with his right hand, a mixture of "goodbye" and a teleportation jutsu. He vanished in a puff of smoke, as he had done at least three times in the last five minutes. Auro might well need Alex's help, but Alex was not going to aid Auro when it came to his mind. The mind, a very flimsy, brittle thing... One wrong move and it was gone. No, Alex would not meddle with another's mind... But he would still help.
* * *
"Maybe it's because he's not as weak as you think he is," Roran said, stepping up to the figure's side. He ran his fingers through his hair, flipped his cloak over his shoulders, and rested his other hand on the arm of the chair. "And, unless I am very much mistaken, he has found himself being aided by a ninja, an adept."
Roran adjusted his gloves, and flicked his hair.
"I do think," he said, "that I'll help you."
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Mind
May 21, 2006 16:03:16 GMT -5
Post by ch00beh on May 21, 2006 16:03:16 GMT -5
Late. He was late. Damn. How could he let this go? The mind was his realm; he should have been able to sense a malicious possession of the mind with ease so long as divine powers were not involved. He could blame the headache that had attacked him when he sensed it. But that was the easy way out, and the blame rested on himself.
Ender sighed as he walked past the mutilated bodies. He waved his hand, puting them back together with telekinesis, sealing wounds as best he could by manually guiding the various biological mechanisms within the corpses' bodies. They would have a clean burial at least. As soon as he finished, he walked up to the one whose mind was possessed earlier. A reflexive scan of the man's mind revealed various things to him, among which was the complete lack of psionic protection.
"Hello Aurora. Name's Ender, I'm a psionic. You look like you could use some help," Ender said in a nearly out of character serious tone. He shifted his shades a bit, then forced a smile while holding his hand out for a handshake.
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Mind
May 21, 2006 16:57:47 GMT -5
Post by dave on May 21, 2006 16:57:47 GMT -5
Aurora took the guys hand. Ender, finally someone that could do some good in helping him. To get his powers back.
"Thanks Ender." He replied. "Alex said we need to find him... Erm... The guy thats doing this to me." Aurora explained. "Any ideas?" he asked.
***
"So... Ender has joined the pathetic group." The figure said. "This could complicate things, Ender is strong. Roran, we might need defense here. Can you do something about that? They might just find us, if you think he's that strong."
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Mind
May 21, 2006 17:47:06 GMT -5
Post by ch00beh on May 21, 2006 17:47:06 GMT -5
"Well, to trace a mind control, I'd normally first go non-invasive, so I'll do that now. When a psychic takes over someone's mind, sometimes, if they're careless, they'll leave memories inside their victim's mind. This usually doesn't happen, but I'll go ahead and ask if there's any memories that you can see that aren't yours. Usually, they're really vivid if you find them, for various reasons that are a bit complicated and I don't have enough time to explain. I can help and dive into your head, if you don't mind.
"The second thing that almost always happens is that the victim and controller temporarily share a weak mental link. I could try tracing it, but me jumping in your head would most likely cause a really bad headache..."
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Mind
May 22, 2006 14:27:40 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on May 22, 2006 14:27:40 GMT -5
"Let them find us," Roran said dismissively. "In the end, it only helps me reach my own goal. As for your defense, I am an Adept, not a god. Minds are not my expertise, and I prefer to look out for myself physically. Find your own ways to defend you little stronghold here."
Roran turned on the spot, and went to leave. As he did so, he paused. After a moment's thought and another's concentration, a ruby fell on the figure's lap. It was no ordinary ruby, that was for sure. It was crystal clear, even through the red, perfectly spherical and let off a light glow. "If you need me, crush that," Roran said before walking off.
*****
It was not an easy task. Alex had a momentary lack of character, and threw the book he was reading across the street. It hit a wall and crashed to the floor quietly. No, he told himself, stop that. Keep calm, keep collected. No point getting angry. It'd just hinder him anyway. Alex took a deep breath, and looked around. Nothing around looked sinister or suspicious but then again, he hadn't expected it to. No self-respecting intelligent villain would be caught dead operating in the middle of a city in broad daylight.
"Let's see..." He muttered to himself. "Past connections to Aurora..."
Alex had a thought, but he hated himself for it. However, it seemed to be the only way to find the truth. He vanished once more, materialising in an all-too-familiar church, with two graves at the front. The buster sword stood strong, as a reminder of what Vincent had lost... And how he had chosen to remove himself...
Alex crouched in front of Yoshimitsu's grave, a blue glow covering his hand. He reached forwards and touched the grave.
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Mind
May 25, 2006 0:58:27 GMT -5
Post by dave on May 25, 2006 0:58:27 GMT -5
Auro contemplated this for a moment, and made up his mind. He looked at Ender carefully, almost deciding if he could be trusted or not one last time.
“You have permission to do what you need to, to find out who is doing this.” He answered.
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Mind
May 29, 2006 1:00:34 GMT -5
Post by ch00beh on May 29, 2006 1:00:34 GMT -5
"Here. Take this." Ender held up one of his many aspirins up to Auro. After it was taken, Ender gave the pill a minute to set in, then put his hands on the man's head. The psionic telekinetically removed his shades then stared deeply into Auro's eyes, a bright blue glow emmanating from each socket. His mind divided, parting to protect his self, so as not to get completely lost in the other's mind.
Memories. Powers. Missing. Blank. Gone. Taken. How. Where.
Words were picked up by the psionic as he metaphorically walked through the walls of Auro's mind. He tested neurons, flowing energy through some to see the reactions, especially those of memories and thought. He sifted through various images of Auro's past, trying to stay away from anything personal while looking for anything out of place. It was obvious there was a presence. Or there had been. At least for the moment it was gone.
He checked for mental backdoors, portals into the mind that a powerful telepath could leave for easy access in the future. He checked for any active connections, if the controller actually still continued to maintain some degree of access. Well. There was something painfully obvious that people usually never look for. The memories of how to use his powers were under a lock of some sort. Somehow, the suppressor had managed to block off access to his or her own mind.
Ender could still try to lift the lock. So, he did.
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Mind
May 30, 2006 5:51:41 GMT -5
Post by dave on May 30, 2006 5:51:41 GMT -5
Aurora could feel the psychic in his mind; it gave him a slight headache most probably why he was given the aspirin. Every memory Ender sorted through something came back to him, he could feel himself gaining them back, and then Ender unlocked something deep within his mind, his abilities coming back to him, his mind protection gathering strength, his old blue aura surrounding him. Ender was forced from Aurora’s mind. “You did it Ender,” Auro stated, “Thank you.” OOC - The topic wasn't planned like this, but this ^ makes things easier
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Mind
May 30, 2006 9:16:12 GMT -5
Post by prime on May 30, 2006 9:16:12 GMT -5
Eragon found the intense aura sweeping outwards from Auro staggering. "Oh god!" He yelled, forced back by the cold air. "Damnit Auro! Stop that before my bits start to shrivil dammit!" He said sharply, his teeth starting to chatter.
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Mind
May 30, 2006 18:58:57 GMT -5
Post by ch00beh on May 30, 2006 18:58:57 GMT -5
OOC: Heh, I left the last sentence open to let you have the freedom to have the presence fight back or to retake control, but that works too. BIC: Ender held his own head. It felt like he'd gone into a boxing ring against an animated sledgehammer who aimed only for the head. Mind jumping took a lot of energy. After his vision cleared enough, the psychic held the bottle of aspirin to his mouth and tilted it up, letting some number of the pills of relief fal into his mouth. He pulled his shades back on while rubbing his temples, then began to speak. "Glad I could be of some help... Now, we really need to find the person who did this to you. Unfortunately, I couldn't find him or her when I scanned your mind. Got any ideas?"
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Mind
May 31, 2006 4:50:40 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on May 31, 2006 4:50:40 GMT -5
A rush of memories shot into Alex's head, blasting him back from the grave, his head spinning. Memories... Thoughts... Feelings... All swimming through his mind, mingling with his own... Not sure which memories were his and which were his old friend's. He staggered to his feet, sorting through the memories, trying to find the ones about Aurora.
There. There were only a few memories, but they were enough. One, a single memory, linked Aurora to another individual. Alex stood up, and was about to teleport to Auro when he saw another person, crouched on Yoshimitsu's grave. He had not been there before. He must have appeared when Alex had taken in the memories.
**Roran's Perspective**
Roran crouched in the upper levels of the ruins, his cloak drawn tightly around him. He could see Alex stepping up to the grave, and a single thought went through his head.
Answers.
Now was not the time to strike, though. Wait for the perfect opportunity. It came quickly. Alex had been blasted back by some unknown ability. Roran dropped from his position, his cloak flapping around him. Hopefully, Alex would be too distracted to notice that. He landed on one of the graves, cloak thrown over his shoulders. He unclipped it, and let it slide down his back and on to the floor. Alex stood up, and noticed him now.
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Mind
Jun 2, 2006 12:26:09 GMT -5
Post by dave on Jun 2, 2006 12:26:09 GMT -5
"I have many ideas of who could of done this," Aurora answered, "all each unlikely as the next," he added. Auro’s head lifted, seeming to sniff the air, something was wrong. “Alex is in trouble,” he said simply and ported, right next to Alex. Following his direction of sight, his eyes landed on Roran.
“And who might this be?” he asked.
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Mind
Jun 2, 2006 12:40:42 GMT -5
Post by notbanned on Jun 2, 2006 12:40:42 GMT -5
"Who are you?" Alex demanded, sounding very calm yet somehow chilling. "You've been away from home for so long you don't even recognise another Adept?"Roran replied, almost mockingly. "Of course I do," Alex retorted. "But you can't expect me to remember every single person from our world, can you?" "You should be able to," Roran sneered. "You, the only person to have absorbed the Golden sun." "Oh? Is that what this is about?" "I have nothing else to say to you. Defend yourself."
Explosions. Small ones, all of them around Alex, like a million fireworks. Alex jumped back, a wave of water smashing through the air. Roran launched himself high into the air, dodging the water, and fired off three fireballs, more like missiles than fire. Alex threw up a wall of water, and the fire fizzled out as soon as it hit the wall. The wall changed and took the form of a giant spearhead. Alex threw it up at Roran, and froze it as he did so. A number of boulders appeared around Roran, shielding him. The ice and the rocks exploded when they colided.
"So? Why'd you take the Golden Sun?" Roran asked as he flipped around Alex. He drew a wakizashi and swiped at Alex. Alex drew a kunai and blocked the attack. "Why wouldn't I? I was naive, foolish and power hungry," Alex replied, dropping down to sweep-kick Roran's shins. Roran jumped over the attack, and kicked Alex mid-jump. Alex was sent flying backwards, into a wall of the church.
"That's it? That's your excuse?" Roran demanded, his eyes blazing. He drew his hands together and concentrated on the energies of the fire pillar. Alex threw up a wall of crystal-clear water, focusing on the water pillar. Instantly, a huge beam of fire shot from Roran's hands, at least two meters diameter. It surged from his hands, vaporising everything it hit. It hit the water, resulting in a huge explosion, raising dust, dirt, steam and ash.
The smoke cleared. Alex was stood, kunai drawn and ready for battle. Roran had both wakizashi out, and was stood in a calm, relaxed stance.
"That's enough for now," Roran said. "I've done much more damage today than just this little battle." Roran cast a significant glance at Auro before vanishing in a flash of flames.
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